Drip-dry clothing support



June 21, 1960 E. D. LEWIS EIAL DRIP-DRY CLOTHING SUPPORT Filed March 31, 1958 ELSE/V ,D. L W 6:, Eaves-7 M, U345,

INVENTORSI BY 1 7% M DRIP-DRY CLOTHING SUPPORT.

Eileen D, Lewis and Ernest M. Usab, Long Beach, Califs; said Usab assignor tosaid Lewis Filed Mar. 31,1958,,Ser. No. 725,010

1 Claim. (Cl. 211-86) This invention relates to a drip-dry clothing; support, and. more particularly toa clothing support which is especially suitable for hanging garments made of. nylon, Dacron on similar fabrics within an enclosed shower room for the. purpose of. drying them.

For many years the accepted method of drying. clothes has been to hang the articles of clothing in a well-ventilated place and spaced. apart sufficiently to permit the free circulation of air therebetween. After the clothes have thus been dried it has usually been necessary to idampen them in order that they might be ironed so as :to: present. a smoothly finished appearance. with the advent and increasing popularity of fabrics such as nylon Dacron it has become increasingly convenient to eliminate. the ironing process entirely, and when dryingthe; garments, to suspend them in such a way that they will dry to the desired form or shape andwithout undue. wrinkles. xfifiarments made of nylon,..Dacr,on:..and similar fabrics are of particular advantage to the traveler, who by their use avoids time-consuming laundering operations and at the same time avoids the necessity of having to carry a large supply of clothing. For the city apartment dweller as well as for the traveling person the use of these garments provides great convenience, however, difiiculty is often experienced in finding a suitable way and a suitable place for hanging the garments while they are drying. The present invention is based upon a recognition of the fact that the drying operation for this type of clothing does not require the circulation of air through and between the garments. The present invention is based upon the recognition of the further fact that the tates P n O garments, while drying, may therefore be closely packed together in an enclosed space where there is little or no circulation of air. Specifically, it has been found that the shower room with which every modern hotel room or city apartment is equipped, and which largely represents wasted space for other purposes, may be very advantageously utilized for this purpose.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a clothing support for supporting a number of garments made of nylon, Dacron or other drip-dry materials, in closely packed relationship within an enclosed shower room while they are drying.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clothing support suitable for suspending drip-dry garments while they are drying, from the very same hanger on which they may afterward be hung in a wardrobe.

The clothing support provided in accordance with the present invention includes a base member which is rigidly fastened alongside the downwardly inclined portion of a shower pipe adjacent the shower head connection thereof. A bracket arm is rotatably fastened at one end to that part of the base member furthest from the shower head, and when not in use is rotated upwardly so that its other end rests against the shower room wall. When its use is desired the bracket arm is rotated downwardly so that it extends out horizontally from the shower pipe. A protrusion formed on that part of the base member nearest the shower head inhibits further rotation of the bracket arm and supports it in its horizontal position. Notches spaced along the up.- per edge of the bracket arm provide supports for a number of clothes hangers of the conventional type.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shower room, clothing support which does not interfere with the normal use of the shower room.

The above and other objects and advantages will he more readily understood in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1, illustrates an embodiment. of the invent-ion suspended from the shower pipe a. shower room, and showing the manner of its use;

Figure. 2 is an elevational view of the clothing support of Figure 1, illustrating in dotted lines the non-operating position of the bracket arm;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the base member of the clothing support. of Figure. l; and

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the clothing support taken on line 44 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawing it will be seen that a vertical wall A of. the shower room has: ashower; pipe B- extending horizontally outward therefrom, and thatv a downwardly inclined portion C of the shower pipe sup.- plies water to a shower head D. The novel: clothing support of the present invent-ion, which is generally designated E, is suspended from inclined portion C of the shower pipe. Garments F are in turn suspended from the clothing support, as is shown in Figure. 1'.

The clothing support includes an elongated base member 10 which is adapted to be rigidly fastened alongside downwardly inclined portion C of the shower pipe. Base member 10 has transversely extending prongs 11 and 12 formed on its lower edge for engaging the undersurface of the pipe. Prong 11 is at the end of the base member which is mounted at the highest elevation and furthest from shower head D, while prong 12 is at the other end of the base member adjacent the shower head. Base member 10 also has a third prong 13 which is formed on the upper central portion thereof and extends transversely over the pipe C. A threaded bore 14 is formed in the extremity of third prong 13 and is aligned substantially at a right angle to the common plane of prongs 11 and 12. An adjusting screw 19 passes through threaded bore 14 for engaging the upper surface of pipe C. Thus, when prongs 11 and 12 grasp the under surface of pipe C adjusting screw 19 is tightened so that it bears down directly on the upper surface of pipe C at substantially a right angle thereto, as is shown in Figure 4, and slightly beyond the pipe center.

It will be noted that base member 10 is therefore rigidly fastened to downwardly inclined portion C of the shower pipe by means of a 3-point suspension.

Base member 10 also has a threaded bore 15 formed therein above the lower edge portion from which prong 11 depends. Bore 15 is so disposed as to be horizontally aligned when base member 10 is clamped in position, and to also be at a right angle to the axis of shower pipe C.

The movable part of the clothing support is an elongated bracket arm 20 which, as shown in Figure 2, has two possible positions. Bracket arm 20 at one end 21 thereof has mounting hole 25. A mounting screw 30 having a flared head 31 passes through mounting hole 25 and engages threaded bore 15 of base member 10. Bracket arm 20 is therefore adapted to rotate in a vertical plane so that in its upward position its other end 22 rests against the shower room wall A.

' Basemem ber on the lowermost end thereof has a protrusion 16 formed which, because of the inclined position of shower pipe C and base member 10, is at a lower elevation than threaded bore 15. Protrusion 16 is provided with a vertically aligned threaded bore 1611 which is engaged by an adjusting screw 17. When bracket arm 20 is rotated downwardly to a horizontal position its 'further movement is inhibited by the upper end of adjusting screw 17 extending above protrusion 16 of base member 10. Adjusting screw 17 is adjusted as necessary so that bracket arm 20 extends outwardly from shower pipe C in a horizontal position.

Bracket arm 20 has a number of notches 23a, 23b, etc. along its upper longitudinal edge. These notches are normally upwardly disposed and are adapted to receive 'a corresponding number of clothes hangers of the conventional type.

which is non-corrosive in'the presence of humid air.

For reasons of convenience and safety it may be desired to put a protective tip on outwardly extending end '22 of bracket arm 20. Such a protective tip might be in the form ofa metal or plastic sphere having suitable means for fastening same onto the bracket arm.

Although our invention is fully capable of achieving 'the results and providing the advantages hereinbefore mentioned, it is to be understood that it is merely the presently preferred embodiment thereof, and that we do 'not mean to belimited to the details of construction above described other than as defined in the appended claim.

We claim:

A support adapted to be removably afiixed' to the downwardly inclined portion of a shower pipe adjacent the shower head connection thereof com-prising: a base member adapted to be removably engaged along the inclined portion of said shower pipe, said base member being of generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration;

The clothing support is made of any suitable material a threaded member threadedly engaged through one leg of said U and adapted to be turned down upon said shower pipe for alfixing said base member thereto; an elongated bracket arm pivotally connected to the base of said U-shaped base member, said bracket arm being pivotally mounted about a substantially horizontal axis for pivotal movement from a first to a second predetermined position, said bracket arm at said first predetermined position extending upwardly and away from said shower head, said bracket arm at said second predetermined position extending substantially horizontally outward from said shower head and when so disposed being capable of supporting a plurality of, hangers from which clothing may be drip dried; aprotrusion supported by said base member, which protrusion has a tapped bore formed therein; and a threaded member that engages said tapped bore andextends upwardly therethrough, with said bracket arm when in said second position resting on the upper end of said threadedmember, and rotation of said threaded memberdetermining a particular second predetermined position said bracket arm will occupy when said bracket arm is pivoted from said first position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Nelson June 21, 1955 

